I've always been excellent at eating cookies. Don't be jealous. I just have a natural talent for it. But learning to bake cookies took a bit more effort.  
 
I started baking chocolate chip cookies when I was a sophomore in high school. It wasn't any sort of fancy recipe; I think it was the recipe on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. I do remember rushing home during my lunch hour to bake a quick batch of cookies to bring back to school (after all, cookies made my afternoon classes way more fun). Or sometimes, I would bake cookies for dinner. Yep, a totally healthy and complete meal :) 
 
I went through a health food phase in college, but I still wanted my cookies, so I tried making them with every type of low-fat, no-fat, no-sugar, wheat-flour combo ever. That experiment didn't yield any lasting results. Moderation, perhaps, was better than eating 20 low-fat cookies at one time. 
 
As I grew up, I tweaked the recipe and started using better ingredients. No more Blue Bonnet margarine. No more Nestle chocolate chips. I learned that refrigerating the dough overnight produces more caramel-y, delicious cookies. A cookie dough scoop means each cookie bakes evenly.  
 
Now, about 15 years after I started making these cookies, I'm ready to share my super secret cookie recipe! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Heck, you could even make them for dinner tonight!  

Shawna's Chocolate Chip Cookies 
 
This recipe yields a chewy, chocolatey cookie. 
 
2 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur Flour)  
1 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp salt (I use Morton's Kosher)  
3/4 cup brown sugar 
3/4 cup sugar 
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), softened (I use unsalted organic butter)  
2 eggs 
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (I love vanilla, so I use a full tablespoon. Call me crazy. Nielsen-Massey is the best!)  
1 package (12oz) chocolate chips (I use Guittard)  
 
First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. 
 
Then, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir the flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside. 
 
In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and butter until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix well. Stir in the vanilla.  
 
Add the flour mixture into the sugar/butter mixture in small batches. Mix in those tasty chocolate chips.* 
 
Drop batter in spoonfuls (I use an Oxo small cookie scoop so they are all about the same size) onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until edges are nicely browned. Do no overbake (or do, if you like crunchy, sorta-burned cookies!). 
 
*At this point, I cover the top of the bowl with some cling wrap and refrigerate the dough overnight. If you are feeling impatient, then you can certainly omit this step and still have tasty cookies. But chilling the dough overnight will give you extra-delicious cookies. I swear.